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G. W. DUDLEY 8v W. J. JONES. Vehicle Wheel. No. 233,219. 7 Patented Oct. 12,1880.

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5f ff)? ATTORNEYS.

N.PETERS, PHOTO-UTNOGRAPNER, WASHINGTON. D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. DUDLEY AND WILLIAM J. JONES, OF WAYNESBOROUGH, VA.

VEHICLE-WHEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 233,219, dated October 12, 1880.

Application filed March 16, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE W. DUDLEY and WILLIAM J. JONES, of VVaynesborough, in the county of Augusta and State of Virginia, have invented a new and Improved Elastic Wheel for Vehicles; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

The main object of our invention is to form a wheel-hub for vehicles in such manner that the wheel will yield sufficiently when undue and sudden strains or jars may come upon it to receive the force of the blow and shield the other portions of the vehicle from the destructive effects of such action, as well as to afl'ord ease and comfort of motion to the occupant; and the improvement consists in securing the inner ends of the spokes to rim-plates, to form a fixed and solid connection therewith, the said rim-plates being loosely secured to the buttflanges and box of the hub, so that it is free to move in a vertical plane, but prevented from moving laterally and limited in its vertical movement by an elastic packing interposed between the inner ends of the spokes and the hub-box, which packing will form a cushion to receive the force of the blow, and thus protect the other portions of the carriage connected with and resting upon it; and the invention consists in combining the butt and box cast together, the rim-plates separated by wedgeblooks secured to one of the plates and held together by bolts passing through the rimplates and alternate wedge-blocks, an eye or thimble keyed to the hub, the elastic packing interposed between the thimbleblock and lower ends of the spokes, and the point or cap of the hub screwed onto the point of the box and held in place by a set-screw, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

The object of the next part of our invention is to combine the above-described parts to form the hub, and to connect the rubber packing with the thimble in such manner that it may readily be removed when desired; and the improvement consists in forming the thimble of two parts made conical upon their outer surfaces and held together at their smaller diam eter by dowel-pins, to form a sectional dished thimble, the conical sides of which will bear against the outer edges of the rubber and securely clamp it, while by removing the sections the packing may be slipped oft at once.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a face view of the hub with the inner rim-plate and hub-cap removed Fig. 2, a longitudinal section through the hub; Fig. 3, an elevation of the thimble with its sections detached.

In the construction of our improved Wheelhub the butt A and box B are preferably cast together in a single piece. The box B is provided with a screw-thread to receive the cap or hub-point O, which is screwed upon it and held in position by a set-screw, c.

The ends of the spokes D are firmly clamped between the rim-plates E F, the inner plate, E, having wedge-blocks e, of oval cross-section, projecting from the face of the plate at equal distances apart. The sides of the wedge-blocks c are rounded, and the sides of the meeting or inner ends of the spokes are correspondingly dished, to exactly fill the double concave spaces between the wedge-blocks, so that the spokes may be applied to the rim-plate E laterally, and all be held separately in position and firmly locked together to receive any vertical pressure that may come upon them. A slight lateral movement of either of the spokes will readily disengage it without displacing the remainder.

In order to firmly hold the spokes in their sockets laterally, an outer rim-plate, F, corresponding in outline with the plate E, except that wedge-blocks are not formed upon its face, is firmly bolted against the sides of the wedge-blocks and outer sides of the meeting ends of the spokes, and is firmly clamped in such position by bolts G, that pass through both rim-plates, as well as through each alternate wedge-block, thus giving the bolts a firm bearing-surface, to closely clamp the plates and prevent the inner plate from slipping upon the ends of the wedge blocks Without passing through the spokes to weaken them.

The hnb-boxB has its inner surface smoothly turned to receive a thimble, H, of peculiar construction, and is provided with a key, h, projecting from its outer surface to fit snugly into a corresponding groove or key-seat in the wall of the thimble, so that the thimble and hub-block will revolve together, but may be readily disconnected. The thimble His made in two conical sections, H H Fig. 3, the smaller diameters of which are placed together and to form a dished face to the thimble, and are prevented from turning upon the hub-box either separately or together by the key h above described. Dowel pins h h may also be employed to hold the sections in proper relation to each other, if desired.

When the thinihle is in place upon the hubbox and the rim-plate and spokes are clamped together in place, an annular space will be left between the rim-plates forming the sides, and between the thimble and meetingends of spokes with their wedge-blocks forming the inner and outer periphery thereof. This space is filled with rubber or other elastic material, I, closely packed and forced in with a pressure that will cause it to withstand without yielding the weight of the load that is to come upon it, so that the axle is retained in the center of the wheel when at rest. An unusual shock will temporarily displace it, and the packing will thereby act as a cushion to relieve the other portions of the vehicle from strain. The packing will, of course, have sufiicient elasticity to restore the wheel and axle to their proper relative positions.

The dished surface of the thiinble will bind the packing upon its lower and outer edges, and because of its double conical shape will serve to compress it considerably. As the thimble is madein interlocking detachable sections, they may be readily removed from the ring when it is to be withdrawn from the hubbox.

Wheels provided with hubs of the above description are well suited for vehicles that are to be driven over rough roads, and will be exceedingly well adapted to the road-bed of city streets that are paved with cobble-stones or other roughened stone surface.

What we claim as new is-- 1. The combination, with the elastic packin g and the hub-box provided with butt-flanges, of the spokes D and rim-plates E and F, one having the innerprojections,e, and both cutout at the center, to allow the requisite movement radially when the pressure on the rim of the wheel causes compression of the packing, as shown.

2. The combination of the butt A, box B, cap 0, rim-plates E F, wedge-blocks e, spokes D, packing I, and thimble H,fitting upon the box B and prevented from turning thereon by the key h, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination, in an elastic vehiclewheel hub, of the butt, box, cup, rim-plates, packing, and thimble H, formed of two conical sections placed with their smaller ends together, to form a dished groove in the surface of the thimble, to be held together by dowelpins, so that they may be separated to readily remove the packing from between them, substantially as described.

GEORGE WILSON DUDLEY. \VILLIAM JOSEPH JONES. Witnesses:

H. H. SHAGKELFORD, R. F. WAY. 

